3: Get Growing

Even midway through June, it’s not too late to start growing some of your own food this season. Growing a garden in your yard, your windowsill, and at any other scale can be empowering. Kent Solberg, SFA’s Senior Technical Advisor, returns to the show to share some tips and advice for growing in a manageable and rewarding way this summer.

Kent’s Top Tips for Starting a Garden:

1. You don’t need to buy a lot of fancy equipment, or even have a lot of space to start growing something.
2. Plant food you like to eat!
3. Keep it simple, start small and manageable.
4. Grow a few things well.
5. Start a compost pile.

Kent’s Top 4 Things to Grow:

1. Potatoes (especially russets): You can grow in old garbage cans or feed sacks. Easy to grow a lot in a small space, and easy to store. All you need is a cool, dry space.
2. Beans (particularly dry beans): Depending on the variety, you can eat fresh or let them mature and store them in a jar. Beans climb trellises and are a great option for vertical growing and container gardening.
3. Butternut squash (open pollinated variety): Can be trellised, grown or started in a container. Like potatoes, you can simply store them in a cool, dark place. Seeds can be saved for next year from an open pollinated variety.
4. Sweet corn or field corn (open pollinated variety): You don’t need a combine! You should have at least four rows wide to allow for pollination. Sweet corn can be eaten fresh or dried to save seed for next year. Field corn can be dried and later ground for corn meal  in a coffee grinder (think of the corn bread!). Plenty of other vegetables or cover crops can be grown in between the rows, you could even grow the Three Sisters.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Charles Dowding Youtube Channel

SFA’s Upper Midwest Garlic Growers Networking Group

Minnesota Premium Garlic Project

Get in touch with Katie with ideas and feedback at katie@sfa-mn.org.

 

The viewpoints of the speakers expressed within or outside of this episode do not necessarily reflect the goals and mission of SFA.

Hosted by Katie Feterl, produced by the Sustainable Farming Association.